India sees $130 M VC investment in Q1

Venture Capital firms have invested $130 million across 20 deals in India in the first quarter of 2007, according to a study by Venture Intelligence and US-India Venture Capital Association.

The IT and the IT-enabled services alone have 14 inked deals worth over $73 million, thus retaining its prime status among the VCs during January-March 2007.

Founder and CEO of Venture Intelligence, Arun Natarajan said, "The amount invested during the period was slightly higher when compared to the corresponding period during 2006 which had witnessed about $125 million being invested and significantly higher than the $37 million invested in QI 2005." The highly successful IPOs of 3 VC-backed companies during the quarter provided a boost for the venture industry. MindTree Consulting raised $53 million via its February IPO.

VCs have ventured into the microfinance and enterprise software areas in a big way as well.
Source: IANS